Abigail Breslin is one of those stars that used to be everywhere. Following her breakout role in Little Miss Sunshine, which earned her an Academy Award nomination, she became the go-to Hollywood child star and in just three years appeared in six movies. Since growing up she has taken on an interesting selection of roles from science fiction films like Enders Game to dramas like August: Osage County.
She will next be seen as the lead in Miranda’s Victim, a crime drama based on the real kidnapping of Patricia “Trish” Weir by Ernesto Miranda and exploring the origins of the Miranda warning. At just 27, Breslin has had an impressive career filled with iconic movies. Here are Abigail Breslin’s best performances, ranked.
7 Definitely, Maybe
Definitely, Maybe was one of the first high-profile projects Breslin booked after Little Miss Sunshine. The film sees her play Maya Hayes, a young girl whose father (Ryan Reynolds) helps her understand his and her mother’s impending divorce by explaining his romantic history and letting her guess which of the women in his story is her mother.
While Breslin is only present in the framing device of the story, much of the movie rests on her portrayal as a young girl invested in her father’s story. Definitely, Maybe is a charming romantic comedy with a great cast, and shows why Breslin was such an in-demand star.
6 Signs
While Breslin is most famous for her role in Little Miss Sunshine, four years prior she played the role of Bo Hess in M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs. This was Breslin’s first movie role at just six years old, and she delivers an incredible performance for somebody so young. Her character is instrumental to the plot, as her inability to finish a glass of water and leave them around the house is the ultimate key to defeating the aliens in the end.
5 Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl was a high-profile project, being adapted from the popular American Girl line of toys and books, with Breslin stepping into the role of Kit Kittredge. Released in 2008, Breslin was only twelve when the movie came out, but she was already the headlining star in her own film. She has to carry the production on her shoulders, and for someone so young does it with ease. Kit Kittredge: An American Girl may not have lit the box office on fire, but it is an entertaining wholesome kids’ film with an entertaining mystery.
4 Zombieland
Breslin was one of the most in-demand child actors following her Academy Award nomination in Little Miss Sunshine, but one of her most high-profile projects afterward was 2009’s Zombieland. Breslin plays Little Rock, a sweet 12-year-old who sadly had to grow up quickly in a world filled with zombies. She is the younger sister of Emma Stone’s Wichita, and her best interactions are with Woody Harrelson’s Tallahassee.
Breslin later reprised her role in Zombieland: Double Tap. She was the only member of the cast to have an Oscar nomination when the first movie opened in 2009, but by 2019, her co-star Jessie Eisenberg had been nominated for Best Actor for The Social Network while Emma Stone won Best Actress for La La Land and Woody Harrelson had won the Best Supporting Acting Oscar for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. Zombieland: Doubletap’s marketing played this up highlighting how the cast of this zombie horror comedy was filled with Academy Award nominees and winners.
3 Maggie
Zombieland and Zombieland: Double Tap aren’t the only zombie movies Breslin has been a part of. She also starred in Maggie, a post-apocalyptic horror drama where Breslin plays the titular Maggie. She has been bitten by a zombie and has only a matter of weeks before she is consumed by the infection. She spends the last moments with her family, particularly her father, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Most of the attention of Maggie was given to Schwarzenegger as it was outside the actor’s typical action movie roles, but Breslin is certainly not to be overshadowed. The two have incredible chemistry as father and daughter. The depiction of the zombie virus as a slow process digs into some psychological horror of how it transforms a person and how others see you. Breslin is incredible in the role, and while it might not be her most well-known movie, it is one of her best performances.
2 Scream Queens
Breslin played the role of Libby Putney, more commonly known as Chanel #5 on the hit television series Scream Queens. She was a member of the social clique known as The Chanels led by Emma Roberts’ Chanel Oberlin. Despite being the right-hand woman, Chanel #5 is often mistreated by the rest of her friends, and Breslin plays the part to great comedic effect. She perfectly captures the put-upon, ditzy, well-intentioned individual that often gets criticized basket case very well. She is funny, sympathetic, and a real top mark in Breslin’s impressive career.
1 Little Miss Sunshine
While Breslin had been in movies before Little Miss Sunshine, this was the film that put her on the map. Breslin plays Olive Hoover, the youngest member of a dysfunctional family who is a beauty pageant contestant. Breslin was only six years old when she was first cast, and by the time the movie hit theaters, she was ten years old.
Her performance is iconic, and she holds her own with talented co-stars like Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Alan Arkin, Steve Carrell, and Paul Dano. Breslin was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, making her the fourth-youngest actress to be nominated in that category. Despite not winning the award, Breslin’s performance is iconic after all these years and led the way to a highly successful career.
